Foot Locker recruits the highest names in entertainment for its annual “On Our Feet” gala, a charitable event presented by the retailer’s nonprofit arm, The Foot Locker Foundation. This 12 months was no different, because the retailer tapped famed actress Marsai Martin, 18, as its guest of honor.

Martin joined Foot Locker president and CEO Mary Dillon on stage last night for a discussion at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in Recent York City.

Throughout the conversation, Martin revealed one of the best advice she has received from her mom (“What’s for you is for you, and what’s for you won’t miss you”) in addition to her dad (“‘The toughest thing that’s ever going to hit you is life,’ meaning everybody has got to undergo life, it’s something that everyone can relate to, so don’t ever think that you just are alone”).

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She also shared how she has been in a position to navigate fame and stardom while being a young adult, which incorporates the support of her family, listening to music, sleep, meditation and therapy. “Therapy helps, y’all,” she said with amusing. “It doesn’t matter how crazy life is or how much you’re seen, caring for yourself is one of the best thing.”

Although just 18 years old, Martin’s resume is already stacked. Other than starring as Diane Johnson on the hit TV show “Black-ish,” Martin also has the excellence of being the youngest Hollywood executive producer for her work on the film “Little.” Martin, who received a Guinness World Record for this achievement, was 14 years old when when the movie was released in April 2019. What’s more, she can be the founding father of Los Angeles-based production company Genius Productions.

Before speaking with Dillon on stage, Martin revealed to FN where her relentless drive comes from.

“The drive comes from my competitiveness against myself, me wanting to maintain going and seeing how far I can go,” Martin told FN. “What I’ve learned inside this time going from a toddler actor to maturity is anything is feasible and there’s no limits to anything on this life. That’s what keeps me going, seeing how far I can go along with my passions and what I really like to do, and in addition to attach with other young Black girls and other people around the globe who need to create.”

Martin also shared a few of the people in entertainment she’d prefer to work with next.

“I really like switching the industries so much. I’d like to work with Kendrick Lamar on the movie side because I really like his creative mindset and the team that he puts himself around. Tyler, the Creator is a very good one, Rihanna is an excellent one — folks that are amazing entrepreneurs, but additionally know methods to put their vision to life and make it their very own,” she said.

Other than her already stellar acting and directing resume, Martin is an entrepreneur, and used her entrepreneurial spirit to debut in the sweetness industry along with her nail brand, Mari by Marsai, in February 2022.

“I grew up around beauty. I had an entire bunch of girls in my household,” Martin said. “Other than my dad, it was all the time my great grandma, my grandma, my mom, my aunts — a full house stuffed with women who cared about their skin, their makeup, the way in which they presented themselves, not for other people’s pleasures but inside themselves. They were all the time confident and powerful. And being on this industry, continuously getting hair and makeup done each time I walk out the home, it’s all the time been a thing in my on a regular basis life and made sense to leap into the sector.”

She continued, “But while you’re young and also you’re a toddler actor, all you possibly can get is a few Chapstick and a little bit ‘brow gel and call it a day, so I used to be like, ‘Dang, what can I even have so I can control my narrative,’ and press-on nails was the fundamental thing.”

Looking ahead, Martin said she would really like to hone in on nail culture further. Specifically, she said she’d prefer to do a deep dive into what other nationalities globally grew up concerning nail culture because “nails are a really big deal in quite a lot of women’s lives.” From there, her longterm beauty industry interests include makeup and hair. 

Beyond acting and sweetness, Martin discussed what her next potential ventures are prone to be.

“The thing about me is I even have so many ideas and just don’t know where to start out,” Martin said. “But the subsequent thing might be home decor. I’ve all the time liked home decor. That may probably be the subsequent thing, but it surely’s crazy because you simply never really know with me. I’ll just go any kind of lane that makes me comfortable or feels good in the meanwhile. And I’m really into real estate in the meanwhile.”

Footwear has also played a distinguished role in her life, which makes her appearance on the Foot Locker event last night all of the more fitting. The retailer’s On Our Feet gala is a component of The Foot Locker Foundation’s commitment to giving back to the communities it serves and its mission to advance equity for young people.

“Foot Locker has all the time been a thing,” Martin said. “Regardless that I grew up with so much women, I had that powerful dad that all the time taught me about shoes and the sneaker game — and why it’s vital to all the time look good from head and particularly to toe.”

Martin said the last time she did a closet purge, she counted around 200 pairs of shoes. Other than a sturdy lineup of sneakers, she said she also favors heels and platforms.

“Platforms, that’s my fundamental thing. You’ll all the time catch me in some platforms because I’m really short — well, 5-foot-2 ain’t that short,” she said with amusing.

So far as sneakers are concerned, Martin loves variety.

“I like [Nike] Air Force Ones, and I’m an enormous Converse person — I really like Converse. Converse is it for me, and I believe it began with me and my love for Tyler, the Creator. His collaboration with Converse, I used to be like, ‘Yeah, I want them.’ That was my first time really diving into it. And Puma is a thing for me. I just got quite a lot of shoes,” she said.

Her favorite pair of sneakers, nonetheless, are those she wore to the event: The Comme des Garçons x Nike Cortez Platform in black and white. “I got these platforms a minute ago and so they’ve all the time been my favorite. I all the time try to maintain them as clean as possible. I even have like three of them,” she said.

And her last sneaker pick-up was a fresh pair of white-on-white Nike Air Force One Lows. Martin offered a bit of recommendation to sneaker shoppers related to her last purchase.

“The one reason I needed to get one other pair was because my other ones were dirty,” Martin said. “Don’t hold onto the old ones, OK. They’re drained.”